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477-unit development will be built on Arvada, Wheat Ridge border

Southwest corner located quarter mile from Ward Road G Line station

After four hours of public comment and council discussion, the Arvada City Council unanimously approved Sept. 10 the development plan for Haskins Station, which will bring 477 units to Arvada near the northwest corner of Ridge Road and Quail Street.

The approval also included rezoning a portion of the 61 acres from industrial to residential.

“I want you to dare to dream with us about new thoughts and new ideas about communities in Arvada,” said Chris Elliot, of SSM Ridge, LLC, the project’s developer. “This is a unique concept.”

The housing mix is composed of five residential unit types. On the property’s southwest corner, 168 multifamily units in five, three-story condo buildings, with tuck-under parking, will be built. Directly north will be located 69 townhomes. The location of the multifamily and town homes are intended to take advantage of the proximity of the Ward Road G-Line Rail Station approximately one-quarter mile from the site’s southwest corner.

This will be the first development in Arvada to incorporate this kind of variety of housing types. Elliot hopes they will attract a variety of buyers.

He specifically talked about the alley-accessed detached townhouses.

“This is a new concept and a number of builders are embracing this, the buying public is embracing is,” Elliot said. “It’s no taller than single-family home, but it is a vertical-living concept. And it’s not just young people excited about it.”

All units in the development will be for sale. That is a change from the initial proposal, which included the multi-family units as apartment rentals rather than for-sale condos.

More than 25 residents spoke either for or against the project at the Sept. 10 council meeting. The main concerns of those opposed to the project was the high density and lack of infrastructure.

Those in favor of the project talked about the look of the development and the “attainability” and diversity of housing. A townhouse, which is a mid-range property, is looking to sell in the $400,000 range.

“Both my boys are recent CU graduates,” Arvada resident Jeff Adams said. “They both work well-paying jobs in downtown, but they are being forced to live outside Arvada. If this goes through, this would give my children and their friends an attainable place to live in their home city.”

Attainability was discussed not just for millennials, but also for retired residents looking to downsize.

“I do have a lot of heartburn with what I think will be a lot of congestion on the roads, and I’m hoping that will be settled,” said Councilwoman Nancy Ford after hearing public comment. “I do agree that it would be nice if a lot of these things were taken care of first before we put in the development. But I think it’s well needed in this community. We talk about youth, but I can see with the aging population a lot of people wanting to live in this community.”